No shifting.....saw no oil in the clutch tank....changed the master cilynder. Bleed the system .

at the moment the car shift only with the transfer case in neutral ( that means something ?? )

can' t put the transfer case on 2H....all the other position seems ok.

I have very little use on the car in the last 4 years but I try to move the car one week ago and the shift wasn' t smooth but at least possible.

as I am in a quite remote area of dominican republic any helps is really appreciated.

thank you very much

Luca campana

DAKOTA SPORT 1997 4WD. V8

 

Most likely it won't shift because the clutch is not being released.

You changed the clutch master cylinder but there is another, the slave cylinder that releases the clutch.

Either there is still air in the system OR the slave cylinder has failed.

It is VERY difficult to get air out of the clutch hydraulic system. Usually you replace both cylinders.

 

Sorry, did not said that I take out also the slave cylinder even if I did not change it. As I get help from 2 friends we spent long time bleeding in different ways and get better and better.....may be not enough !!
me too had the feeling that is not gonna be easy, but did not find locally the complete replacement ......

I think the slave cylinder ( like the master ) has no bleeding valvle, do you think that disconnect the slave quick connection on the other side, the side with the metal pin can help to fill it ??

thanks

 

If it's the original cylinder then there is no bleeder. Dodge sold them as an assembly already pre-bled. Not sure of how the aftermarket cylinders are.

You can shift it with the engine off too, right? That pretty much confirms that the clutch isn't disengaging.

 

There may be one or possibly two problems here. First, your hydraulic system has issues. Lack of fluid shows that. There is no factory bleed process as I found out on a Dakota several years ago. I did a field expedient repair to one once. I don't like those but often they are the only way to recover a vehicle stranded. Use a Turkey baster or other suction device to drain the master cylinder on top of the firewall. Leave just a little fluid in it and cover the top with towels or rags. Brake fluid is usually used in these and it WILL eat the paint off if it splatters. Unbolt the slave cylinder at the clutch and leave it hooked to the fluid line. Push the piston back into it. Slowly as it will then bubble up into the master cylinder. Reattach the slave cylinder to the clutch and see how it acts. It may take a second time although it only took one for me.
Now, it's possible your slave cylinder has gone bad. Putting a new one on and pushing the piston in after pushing the pedal down once, with a full reservoir, then drained and the new piston pushed in will take care of that.
I said there were possibly two problems. Are you sure your clutch isn't rusted to the flywheel? The rivets can rust and stick to the flywheel. Add in the springs and it won't budge. Usually you have to pull the transmission and replace the clutch. However, there is a field expedient for that too. Roll the truck up against a large tree. With the engine off, put it in first gear. Push the clutch in and try to start the engine. If the master and slave cylinders are working properly and the clutch is rusted, the engine will either start or not. If it starts, the flywheel broke loose. If not, you get to pull the clutch. Make certain the hydraulic cylinders are working first though.

 

Problem solved....the issue was air in the system. Now that I understood I can say that this is not difficult at all....
in you tube is possible to see how to bleed a system without bleeding valves....my advise is to take everything out of the car, and start bleeding from the slave cylinder....as I do not have the steering puller (that you see people using on so many video ) I simply made 3 holes on a wooden bar, two holes are for the screw, the central hole is just to put inside a stick to hold the cylinder when bleeding the master cylinder( had a friend doing that for me ). So this is a gravity bleeding, no special tools needed. Just be patient and do not install before you get very very little play on the master cylinder.
Hope I can help somebody else with my experience and a big thank you to the forum !!!

Luca

 

Glad you got it taken care of. You may have saved someone else some bucks.